Urban Reviews - Your Source for the Best in AA Fiction!

  You never forget your first love. Isn't that what they say? Verity Hill knows this truth intimately. She didn't simply miss Wright "Monk" Bellamy when they parted ways in college. She's haunted by his touch. Every kiss, any lover since—it's a shadow of what they had.   Time heals all wounds. Isn't that what they say? Monk doesn't believe that for a second. He wasn't simply betrayed when he and Verity split. He was devastated, with parts of him left behind in the ruins of all that was destroyed.   More than a decade after their disastrous breakup, Verity and Monk must work together on the set of an epic Harlem Renaissance biopic. With Monk, now a world-class musician, creating the score, and Verity, an award-winning screenwriter, penning the script, there's Oscar buzz before shooting even begins. This once-in-a-lifetime project could catapult them both to new heights, but can they can put the past behind them for the sake of the film … for the...

  For years, Tyrone Houston was known as the quiet, dependable man who ran the Houston Family Funeral Home and Crematorium. A pillar of the community. A devoted father. A man who saw the dead every day - and treated them with care. Or so everyone thought. When Tyrone dies, his children receive a shocking final request: a scavenger hunt through his past. Each clue leads them deeper into hidden rooms, secret records, and graves that shouldn't exist. The truth waiting at the end is worse than any nightmare. Tyrone Houston wasn't just burying the dead. He was creating them. And his daughters had no clue that a real life boogie man was living right in their home. If you haven't gotten right with the Lord, now is the time. This is not for the faint of heart. Pre-order your copy of Vengeance today!

  Since their fast friendship as teenagers over 30 years ago, Louisiana natives Remi Landry and Bianca Fuentes Perez have seen each other through the best and worst of times. Now, as Remi grieves the sudden death of her beloved husband of 25 years, and Bianca struggles with the fallout of a divorce she didn’t see coming, the women are amid their greatest challenges yet. Remi and Gerard spent their honeymoon and summers in Napa and on the Sonoma Coast. Their love of wine led them to buy a Victorian home in Wine Country—and then a winery on the site of an age-old vineyard. They spoke endlessly about retiring to run their winery. But with Gerard gone, Remi must sort through his things and reevaluate their assets, and her future. Bianca is grateful to be there for Remi. After all, Remi was her rock when Bianca’s husband left—and throughout the breast cancer diagnosis that followed. Now in remission, and with her daughter a thriving college freshman, Bianca hopes for a brighter future. ...

  Savvy has her work cut out when an old friend hires her to cater a company luncheon at a nearby office building on Chicago's South Side. Stepping out of her traditional soul food comfort zone, Savvy whips together a menu of Creole classics, with her own spin, of course―mini po’boys with assorted fillings, sunburst salad, and bread pudding using Great Aunt Essie’s famous buttermilk biscuits. But when someone is found dead in the company’s conference room, Savvy’s culinary creations are suddenly in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. While the focus should be on their delicious flavors and inventive techniques, Savvy’s beloved café instead becomes the center of a murder investigation once again. Caught within a messy web of gossip, miscommunication, and fraught coworker relationships, Savvy will have to settle the confusion to clear her name. Somebody’s hiding something, and with the help of her trusty assistant manager, Penny Lopés, Savvy sets out uncover exactly who is to bl...

  Mona Johnson is an aspiring screenwriter working behind the scenes for one of Hollywood’s most sought-after and award-winning producers. Smart, focused, and determined to protect her future, she knows better than to mix business with pleasure, especially when the man in question signs her paycheck. Terrance Beckham has it all: power, prestige, and an industry reputation that opens every door. What he doesn’t have is love that isn’t influenced by his fame. Tired of being desired for the wrong reasons, Terrance steps into the online dating world under an anonymous profile, determined to find something real. What he finds is Mona. Online, their connection is effortless and intoxicating. Offline, it’s complicated by secrets, proximity, and a truth that could destroy everything before it begins. As outside pressures mount and past relationships refuse to stay buried, Mona and Terrance must decide whether revealing the truth is worth risking their hearts and their careers. In Hollywood...

  Shay Baker—daughter, close friend, photographer—suddenly takes her own life, the ghosts of unanswered questions and unresolved feelings haunting those who survive her. Left in her wake is a series of mysterious photos and letters, some sent to key figures in her life, others to only passing relationships. One recipient, Royal, cannot square what he knew of Shay with her ultimate end, and resolves to stitch together insights from others chosen by her, setting off a sequence of revelations each more shocking than the last. Part mystery, part study of our shared lessons on desire,  Baker's Dozen  reveals and unravels grief, family history, and the ties that bind. Preorder your copy of Baker's Dozen today!